In the middle of the Frans Hals Museum Hof is the 18th-century dollhouse of Sara Ploos van Amstel-Rothé (Amsterdam 1699 – Halfweg 1751). She was a rich lady for whom this dollhouse was an expensive hobby. The dollhouse was not a toy, but was seen as a miniature museum that could be displayed to visitors. It provides a glimpse into the canal house of a very wealthy family in the eighteenth century.

In 1743 Sara Rothé bought three dolls’ houses at an auction. They were converted into two new houses, of which this is one. The rooms were carefully decorated, where everything was recreated as real as possible on a scale of 1:10. The furniture contains almost a thousand objects! There also house a pet in one of the rooms. Do you discover where?

The dollhouse was purchased with the support of the Vereniging Rembrandt (Rembrandt Association). This presentation was realized with the support of the Vereniging Rembrandt and the Turing Foundation and aims to draw attention to the power of the Frans Hals Museum’s permanent collection.